


In Which Dick Spawns a Disney Princess

by Scotty1609



Series: the Princess Grayson-verse [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Alfred Pennyworth is the Best, Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anxiety Attacks, Author Is Sleep Deprived, Babies, Batfamily (DCU), Batfamily (DCU) Feels, Batfamily Angst (DCU), Caring Batfamily (DCU), Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson-centric, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gen, Good Grandparent Alfred Pennyworth, Good Parent Alfred Pennyworth, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Jason Todd is Good with Kids, Kid Fic, POV Tim Drake, Parent Dick Grayson, Past Rape/Non-con, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Jason Todd, Single Parent Dick Grayson, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing, Worried Batfamily (DCU), implied - Freeform, jason Todd is a good bro, not really mentioned or shown, off-camera rape/non-con, tim drake is a good bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:15:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27522907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scotty1609/pseuds/Scotty1609
Summary: Dick’s apartment was a mess, but it was always a mess. Diapers- hopefully clean, Tim thought absent-mindedly- littered the floor, along with several tiny pairs of socks and numerous soft toys. A bassinet sat in the corner of the room, a few blankets tossed around it haphazardly. There were two almost-empty bottles of milk on the coffee table, lying next to a plate of half-eaten pizza that looked more than a few days old. Really, Tim was surprised there weren’t flies. Stepping over the mess on the floor, Tim followed the sound of a very upset baby into the kitchen.And really, seeing Dick standing there with a baby shouldn’t have been surprising considering the state of the living room, but the sight had Tim halting in his tracks....Alfred sends Jason and Tim to check on Dick after a long period of silence from Nightwing. In which there is a Baby Grayson, Jason is Good with Kids, and Tim is Confused.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Jason Todd
Series: the Princess Grayson-verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2011600
Comments: 16
Kudos: 393





	In Which Dick Spawns a Disney Princess

**Author's Note:**

> hnnnnnnnnnnn i cant stop w/the aNGST
> 
> WARNINGS: there is no blatant reference to rape/non-con in this fic but later additions to this verse will probs/def have references to it? Dick def suffers from PTSD from being assaulted by Tarantula, and the baby in this fic is half Tarantula's (timeline-fuckery is Bountiful in this fic bc the author does not give a fUQ about timelines) so there will be Angst about that
> 
> also Jason is probably OOC but like i don't care bc uncle!jason is the bEST jason

It was absolutely pouring in Bludhaven, which was not necessarily abnormal. There was, however, a great deal of thunder and lightning stretching the entire way from Gotham to her sister-city, which came to an apex that seemed to hover directly above Dick’s apartment.

It was because of said thunder and lightning that Jason and Tim had opted to take one of Bruce’s cars rather than their respective bikes. Jason drove, because- even though he’d been licensed for three years and driving for several before that- Tim was a _terrible_ driver. It didn’t mean Tim had to be happy about it, though. For all that he was a good driver, Jason was far from a _safe_ driver. He went well over the speed-limit and cut people off, earning shouts and middle fingers that he merely laughed off. Tim thought it had something to do with being an adrenaline junkie, but he really wasn’t about to say anything and piss off the man with his hands on the steering wheel.

They arrived at Dick’s apartment in under an hour, which- with the combination of the storm and rush-hour traffic- was rather disconcerting. But they were alive, even if Tim’s legs felt like jell-o when he staggered out of the vehicle. Jason sent him a cheeky grin, barking out a laugh when Tim flipped him off.

When they got up to Dick’s door, Jason raised his hand to knock. But then, the man froze. Tim frowned at his brother, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong.

But then he heard it, too.

Crying.

A _baby_ crying.

“The frick…?” Jason started, but then paused to pull a lockpick out of thin air and make swift work of Dick’s front door. And then he was pushing it open with a tiny _creeeeak_ and the two vigilantes were slipping inside.

What they saw made them stop in their tracks.

Dick’s apartment was a mess, but it was always a mess. The man had a habit of leaving old dishes on the coffee table and dropping his shoes and jacket wherever he took them off. Now, however, the apartment was cluttered with several new items. Diapers- _hopefully_ clean, Tim thought absent-mindedly- littered the floor, along with several tiny pairs of socks and numerous soft toys. A bassinet sat in the corner of the room, a few blankets tossed around it haphazardly. There were two almost-empty bottles of milk on the coffee table, lying next to a plate of half-eaten pizza that looked more than a few days old. Really, Tim was surprised there weren’t flies. Stepping over the mess on the floor, Tim followed the sound of a very upset baby into the kitchen.

And really, seeing Dick standing there with a baby shouldn’t have been surprising considering the state of the living room, but the sight had Tim halting in his tracks.

Dick looked even more of a mess than his apartment. The man was wearing solely stained sweats, his bare chest wrapped up in ace bandages. His hair was in disarray and it looked like he hadn’t shaved in months, even though it had only been two weeks since Tim had seen him. There were dark bags under Dick’s eyes, which looked glazed over on their own.

“Dick...?” Tim began slowly, taking a cautious step forward.

It was a testament to how utterly shaken Dick was that he jumped. He _jumped_. Tim was shocked that Dick hadn’t heard them enter the apartment, but then again- with the wailing of the tiny infant in his brother’s arms filling the room- Tim was surprised Dick had heard him _at all_.

“T-Tim? What-” But Dick was cut off by a particularly loud wail from the precious cargo within his grasp, and his attention- hazy as it was- was suddenly back on the baby. “Ssh, ssh, princess,” Dick murmured, rocking back and forth in jerky, desperate motions. “Ssh, princess, you’ve been crying for _hours_ , you’ve _got_ to be getting tired-”

As if to tell Dick off, the infant’s wails only grew louder.

Tim was still in shock, staring at the scene with ever-growing trepidation. It was Jason who lurched into action, clasping Dick on the shoulder and nodding down to the baby. “You need some help there, Dickie-bird?”

In response, Dick flashed his younger brother an empty, ghost-like stare. “She- she’s been crying for _ages_ \- I don’t- I don’t know what I’m doing _wrong_ , but she- she doesn’t need to be changed and she already ate and I bathed her and rocked her and- and-”

Dick’s breath was starting to pick up, borderline hyperventilating, and his arms were shaking violently. Quietly, he hissed out a broken, “I don’t know what to _do_.”

“Well, first off,” Jason spoke matter-of-factly, far too confident for a situation that was rocking Tim to the core, “you’re going to hand that little tyke over to me, and then Replacement’s gonna sit you down on the couch and get you a glass of water. You’re lookin’ way too gray, Goldie.”

Now that Jason mentioned it, Dick _did_ look gray. His face was ashen, a far cry from its typical darkened tan, and his lips were so dry that it made Tim wince.

“But, but she- I- _Jay_ -” Dick croaked, hugging the infant tightly to his chest.

“I know, Dickie,” Jason’s voice was far too gentle for Tim’s taste. “But you’re no good to her shaken up like this. Let me take care of her, and you take care of you, okay?”

It took a bit more coaxing, but soon enough, Dick was relinquishing his charge into Jason’s hold. It was odd to Tim, how natural Jason seemed to be with a squalling infant tucked into the crook of his elbow. But sure enough, Jason was bouncing the baby, dancing around the kitchen as he went about warming a bottle, murmuring to the bundle all the while.

Which left Dick to Tim.

The sight of his older brother- looking so exhausted, like somebody had scooped out his innards and mangled them up before dumping them back into his corpse of a body- finally managed to rip Tim from his stupor. “Hey, Dick,” Tim spoke softly to the older man, taking Dick’s wrist in his hand and noting how he flinched at the touch. “Let’s sit you down, alright?”

Leading Dick to the living room was easy- _too_ easy, like as if Tim’s big brother had been replaced by a brainless zombie- and Tim sat Dick down on a clear spot of couch, knocking aside some diapers and a pillow in order to make space for himself. After settling down in his seat, Tim looked up at Dick and studied his face.

Dick’s eyes- still hazy, still clouded, like he was trapped in a nightmare he couldn’t shake- stared ahead at the black screen of his TV. Tim spoke lowly to his brother, rubbing circles into the pulse-point on Dick’s wrist as he mumbled on and on about everything and nothing. It was slow going, but eventually, as Jason managed to quiet the baby in the kitchen, Dick’s blue eyes became gradually more focused. When he finally looked at Tim, the younger man nearly cried out in relief.

“T-Timmy?” Dick stammered. “What- what are you doing here?”

“You missed the drug bust last night,” Tim said, not letting up on his grip on Dick’s wrist. “Alfred said he hadn’t heard from you in nearly a week and sent us to find you. Not to mention Damian’s getting moody.”

Dick nodded, smiling weakly, and apologized morosely for the inconvenience.

From the doorway of the kitchen, where he was cradling the baby and allowing her to suckle at a bottle, Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re not an inconvenience, Big Bird. Maybe a pain in the ass and too much of a frickin’ _martyr_ , but not an inconvenience.” The baby in Jason’s arms gurgled, spitting out the bottle as if to say she’d had enough. It was _weird_ to see Jason grinning down at a _baby_ of all things- guns, yes; cars, yes; but _babies_? Tim shuddered- but, despite the weirdness, the happy expression was a good look on the man. “Besides, if we hadn’t showed up, we might not have gotten to meet this cutie, huh?”

And _speaking_ of the tiny elephant in the room, Tim turned back to Dick and asked, “Is she- is she _yours_ , Dick?”

Dick’s flinch was full-body, and it both spoke volumes and left Tim brimming with questions.

“What’s the little princess’s name?” Jason asked, and Tim was grateful for the change of subject, even as obvious as it was.

Glancing back at the baby, Dick’s eyes softened into something fond. “Aurora,” he murmured, “Aurora Marie.”

“Rori,” Jason amended, and it was _startling_ to hear the infamous Red Hood absolutely _coo_ such a tiny baby. “Rori, are you bein’ a little fart for your daddy? Hm? Givin’ him what he earned, bein’ such a jerkwad back in his hayday?”

Rori giggled, and the sound seemed to brighten the room. Even Dick’s eyes lightened a tad at the sound of a happy baby, and it made Tim think- for a moment- that things would be okay.

But then Jason was saying something about packing up bags, heading back to the Manor, and Dick’s face fell.

“No,” he opposed, sounding rather stricken. “Jay, I _can’t_ -”

“You _can_ , Dickhead, and you _will_ ,” Jason huffed back. “Look, I’ll admit, I’m not the paragon of ‘taking care of yourself’, but it’s not just _you_ you’ve got to worry about, now. You’re obviously sacrificing your own wellbeing to take care of Rori, but you can’t do that _forever_ , Dick. You’re gonna crash and burn, and _then_ where will she be, huh?”

The tirade sounded practiced for all that it was improv, and Tim was more shocked at hearing Jason sound _concerned_ for Dick’s wellbeing than he was of the situation as a whole. But the words seemed to work their magic, and Dick’s newfound paternal instinct seemed to realize that it needed to align with his own self-care, and he melted into Tim’s touch.

“Yeah,” their brother croaked. “Yeah, okay. I’ve been missing Alfred’s cooking, anyways.”

Tim side-eyed the old pizza on the coffee table, and Jason grumbled, “I _hope_ you haven’t been eating out the past two whole weeks, Dickhead. Wanna watch that figure of yours, don’t ya?”

Dick chuckled, and- even as hollow as it sounded- the familiar noise wrought a wave of relief over Tim’s body. “You’re one to talk, Mr. ‘I single-handedly keep Taco Bell in business’.”

“Frick you,” Jason said with no heat, gesturing towards the bedroom. “Now go pack before I have Replacement pack for you. And we _all_ know about his suitcase-filling skills.”

“Hey!” Tim protested. “My laptop and headphones are _important_.”

“So are socks, Tim. And _underwear_.”

Tim would have argued further, but he found himself having to support his exhausted oldest brother over to the bedroom. Dick haphazardly packed himself a duffle, then went about filling up a diaper bag for Rori. Tim didn’t miss the way Dick’s eyes lingered on an old stuffed elephant in his closet- one that had likely seen its prime days nearly two decades ago- before stuffing it into his own duffle bag, but the younger hero pretended not to notice.

“All packed?” Jason greeted them when they reentered the living room.

Dick nodded jerkily, and Tim found himself supporting his older brother once more, lest a breeze manage to pick up from the floor vent and knock the man over.

“Alright,” Jason said, depositing Aurora back into her father’s arms. Dick cradled her instinctively, both hands holding firm but gentle to the infant’s swaddled body. “We don’t have a car seat, so you’re gonna have to hold her in the backseat. Tim, sit with him.”

Neither hero argued with Jason, instead heading out to the car under an umbrella. The thunder had lightened up, but the rain was still pounding steadily. For some reason, the damp air and sound of pattering rain seemed to make Dick phase out once more. However, a steady hand from Tim and a sharp holler from Jason had the older man quickly coming back to the present. The three then entered the vehicle and buckled up.

If Jason had been a maniac driving up from Gotham, he was an absolute _grandma_ driving back. His eyes kept flashing in the rearview mirror, taking note of how Dick was simply staring down at his daughter- _his **daughter**_ , Tim thought with a shock, and _their **niece**_ \- before flicking over to Tim and then back to the road.

Tim fought the urge to pull out his cellphone, because he knew if he got on it then he’d start texting Kon or Cassie or- god forbid- _Bruce_. Then again, Bruce was going to find out about the baby sooner rather than later. It might actually have been a good idea to give the man a head’s up about the Manor’s soon-to-be latest addition.

But Tim found himself leaning into his brother instead, one hand on Dick’s knee in silent support, the other lying restlessly by his side. Tim’s eyes flickered from the window and the lightning over to Dick and Aurora, then towards the rearview mirror until he caught Jason’s troubled glare.

They pulled up to the Manor quite some time- but not _enough_ time- later. Tim got out, rushing to the other side of the car and readying the umbrella so that Dick and Aurora wouldn’t get wet, and Jason hauled Dick’s suitcase and Rori’s diaper bag from the trunk. Alfred, ever-loyal and ever-worried about his charges, greeted them at the front door. His eyes widened a fraction at the sight of them- Dick, staring down into his daughter’s sleeping face, Jason, holding onto the bags and glaring something fearsome, and Tim himself, looking utterly confused- before the old man composed himself and opened the door wider for them to enter. “I shall ready the tea, then,” he told them. “Master Dick, I presume you will be staying?”

Alfred didn’t say _for the time being_ , but the words lingered in the air even so.

“Yeah, Alf,” Dick croaked, finally looking up from his daughter’s face to smile at the butler. It was a frail thing, his smile, but it was enough to soothe the collective nerves that hung static in the air. “I’m staying.”

“Master Bruce and Master Damian are out, I’m afraid, as is Miss Cassandra.” If anything, the news seemed to relieve Dick. “We can get you and the little one settled in for now…”

“Aurora,” Dick murmured. “Her name is Aurora.”

Alfred nodded, smiling softly. “A befitting name for such a bright young lass.” Then, the man turned away, likely to ready the tea he had promised them, leaving Jason to take Dick’s bags upstairs and Tim to turn to his older brother.

It was the first time that Tim had really taken in the baby’s features. Aurora’s skin was dark, even darker than her father’s, but the black curls atop her head and the sliver of bright blue eyes that Tim managed to get a glimpse of were all Dick. Reaching a hand forward, Tim touched the baby’s plump cheek, finding her skin impossibly soft beneath his fingers. Aurora yawned, her little lips looking like a baby bird’s beak as she did. Then, her tiny hand came up to grab onto Tim’s finger, and her gummy mouth turned into a half-smile.

“She’s… tiny…” Tim said, finding himself at a loss for better words.

“Yeah,” Dick chuckled. “She is.”

“…She’s perfect, Dick.”

Dick flinched once more (and Tim found himself already loathing the story that would come with that later), but just as quick as the despair had jumped onto Dick’s features, it disappeared. He smiled, weakly but genuinely, as his gaze dropped down once more to the small bundle in his arms.

“Yeah,” Dick murmured, brushing his own finger down the infant’s cheek. Rori cooed and turned, latching her mouth onto her father’s finger and suckling. Dick chuckled, leaning down to inhale Aurora’s baby-scent, leaving the ghost of a kiss on the crown of her head. “Yeah, she is.”

**Author's Note:**

> I promise I am not done with my other fics I just have had this one on my mind for liek 5 yrs and had to get rid of the plot bunny (does anyone even refer to plots as 'bunnies' anymore or have we all used brain-bleach to get rid of our FF.net days??)
> 
> anyways pLS leave me prompts for Rori and her daddy and uncles/auntie because I need fluff to deal with all this aNGST


End file.
